felt in a different country , fighting the urge to ride on the right-hand side of the road . The complete lack of litter was noticeable .
Also noticeable were many signs attached to lampposts . Some said YES ; an equal number said NO . I couldn ’ t make out what the signs were about until it began to get light . Then on the posters I saw pictures of foetuses ; others showed photos of women demanding choice over their own bodies . It was the referendum on whether to legalise abortion in Ireland . I had plenty of time to scrutinise all the different ones as I rode on .
I stopped at Waterford as did the dry weather . As the light increased , pretty villages came into view as I continued westwards , places I would love to have stopped at , but it was too wet , too windy , and too early in the morning . It hammered down all the way to Tralee on the south-west coast .
My hosts arrived at the meeting place to find me so tired and stiff I couldn ’ t even shiver . Dismounting from the bike was an awkward manoeuvre because , apart from occasionally referring to my paper map , now so soggy it wouldn ’ t fold , I hadn ’ t stopped along the way , and I ’ d seized up . It ’ s no fun taking wet , dripping gear off to sit at a table with a cup of tea and even worse when the time comes to put all that slithery stuff back on , so I ’ d just carried on . Saved by hot soup and a bath wherein I immediately fell asleep and afterwards felt revived . I met their little Jack Russell dog and she and her owner took me for a walking tour of Tralee , a charming town with individual shops and trompe l ’ oeil ones painted on blank walls . We met my host ’ s sister who owns an army-green Enfield . Much leg-pulling ensued and I began to experience what craic is . No alcohol was consumed , you don ’ t need that for craic .
The next day , whilst everything was drying in the sunshine which they were as relieved to see as I , we all piled in the car ( mercifully ) and went to Killarney National Park .
At Ladies ’ View there was the inevitable gift shop and tearoom as this was the Ring of Kerry and a stop for coach tour passengers to take in the views . Moll ’ s Gap a little further on , named after the enterprising Moll Kissane who saw a gap in the market and opened an unlicensed public house in the 1820s whilst the road was being built overlooking the Macgillycuddy ’ s Reeks mountains .
Killarney was sunny and at Kenmare I had warmed up sufficiently to enjoy an ice-cream with my hosts in a park whilst some Irish jackdaws peered down , heads cocked , from the branches above . Then it was home for the Eurovision song contest , fish and chips , and my first bottle of proper Irish Guinness .
TRAVERSE 90